Do memes belong to everyone?

Memes belong to everybody and nobody. You can’t apply the principles of free-market capitalism to a meme because, by its very nature, a meme is not an asset class but a living organism. “What is important and interesting about memes from a critical perspective is that they don’t belong to anybody,” says art critic Davis.

Do you pay to send a meme?

You’d never pay to send a meme, any more than you’d pay to tell a joke, or send a nude. The meme is a gift from one person to another, spontaneously, voluntarily, without any expectation of financial reward. Memes belong to everybody and nobody.

Are memes monetisable?

Whatever their advocates argue, in themselves they have no inherent value, being fundamentally non-monetisable at their core. The meme only assumes cultural capital through mass transmission, and mass transmission only takes place when the meme is free to share. You’d never pay to send a meme, any more than you’d pay to tell a joke, or send a nude.

Are NFT meme sales worth it?

NFT meme sales can sometimes compensate creators for the harm occasioned by going viral without their consent. “Sometimes it can be a little confusing to grasp that: hey, this is my actual thing, because the whole world has it and is doing what they want with it,” says Lashes.